Minnesota Scene: Gophers softball team beats USD, falls to Washington

The seventh-ranked Gophers softball team split a pair of games in Seattle on Sunday, shutting out South Dakota 8-0 in five innings before falling 9-0 to No. 8 Washington in five innings.

In the opener, Carlie Brandt allowed one hit in five innings in her first collegiate start. Sydney Dwyer and Sara Groenewegen each hit home runs for the Gophers (21-2) in a game that lasted 1 hour, 12 minutes.

Washington (21-3) used homers in the first and second innings by Ali Aguilar and Julie DePonte to take a 5-0 lead. Taran Alvelo pitched a three-hitter.

The Gophers baseball team lost 12-3 to Missouri State in the finale of a three-game series at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Toby Anderson took the loss, allowing eight runs and seven hits over 3 ⅔ innings. Troy Traxler went 2-for-3 for Minnesota (9-6).

Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State Mankato were the top two state teams in the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships this past weekend in Birmingham, Ala., finishing tied for 15th with 16 points and 18th with 15.5, respectively.

Emilee Trost of UMD was second in the mile (4 minutes, 40.96 seconds) and anchored the second-place distance medley relay (11:16.90).

Alexis Zeis of the University of Mary won the 5,000 run (16:23.22) and Courtney Crandall of Sioux Falls won the pole vault (4.32 meters) while Kaitlyn Long of Winona State was second in the weight throw.

Scott Greenman of Sioux Falls won the men's pole vault (5.35 meters) and teammate Jagger Gran was third (5.15). Sioux Falls tied for ninth in the men's team competition with 22 points, MSU Mankato was 12th with 21.

• Singles victories by Carolina Ryba, Tina Kreinis, Annemarie Emme and Camila Vargas Gomez carried the Gophers women's tennis team to a 4-3 win over host New Mexico.

• Eagan sophomore goalkeeper Megan Plaschko gave a verbal commitment to the Gophers women's soccer team. Plaschko helped the Wildcats win the 2015 Class 2A state title.